FAQ

Reflective Blinds are transparent, internal, sun control blinds.

They come as Roller Blinds:

• Deluxe sidewinder chain operated for normal vertical windows.
• Cord Actuated Blinds which are usually fitted to glass roofs and dome type roof-lites.

Reflective Blinds are installed inside the window, and are designed to reflect the sun’s rays back through the glass before they can heat the room up or cause damage.

To keep this simple, we will talk of the two most significant mechanisms a Reflective Blind uses to insulate your window:

1. Reflection to reduce solar heat gain, this is by far Reflective Blinds most powerful weapon. The sun gives off electromagnetic waves, and some of this energy we see as light or feel as warmth. These waves are travelling at 300,000 Km/second and plain window glass is 90% transparent to them. If you place a reflective surface in the path of these rays, you can change their direction by reflection. Compared with a conventional blind or curtain, a Reflective Blind is very reflective, so a large proportion of the sun’s rays are reflected back out of the window before they are converted into heat energy.
2. A still air barrier to reduce heat transfer from the hot side to the cold side. A still air space can be a very effective method of insulation. A Reflective Blind creates a still air space between your room and the glass, this still air space, although not as effective as some bulk insulations, such as one of the foams, makes a significant contribution to the insulation of your room from the heat outside. Additional still air barriers created by your conventional blinds and curtains can add to this advantage. In the winter time, Reflective Blinds work to retain warmth, partially by creating a still air barrier, and partly by preventing the warm air circulating in your room from making contact with the cold glass, while still retaining your view.

Reduction in solar Heat Gain: This is another way of saying Solar Energy Rejected. Solar Energy Rejected is the ratio of the amount of total solar energy in the full solar wave length range (300-2100 nanometers) that passes directly through a glazing system, to the amount of solar energy falling on that glazing system.

What this means is that on a normal summer’s day, about 600 watts of solar heat energy will fall on every square metre of our eastern and western windows for about four hours every day: the eastern windows in the morning and the western windows in the afternoon. The Reflective Blind working in concert with the glass, and hanging about 25mm inside the glass will reduce heat gain into the room by 51% to 80%, depending on which film from the range you are using and the design of the window.

The more reflective the Reflective Blind Film, the more effective the blind will be in reducing solar heat gain.

Solar energy does three things when it strikes a surface:

1. Some is reflected: some of this reflected energy is what enables us to see the object.
2. Some may be transmitted: this only occurs if the object is transparent or translucent.
3. The balance is absorbed by the body as heat energy which raises the temperature of the body. Solar energy is not in itself hot, but it is called heat energy because of this phenomena.

They are truly transparent:

• Reflective Blinds are as clear as your sunglasses.
• You could say that they put sunglasses on your windows.

Sun protection: Reflective blinds offer excellent protection from the sun.

• The performance of a Reflective Blind depends on which film is used, the more reflective the blind film the more effective the blind.
• Reduction in solar Heat Gain
• Glare reduction: better than most sun glasses, Reflective Blinds reduce glare by between 90% and 97%.
• Fade Protection: Ultra violet rays of the sun are like the noisiest kid in the class, they get all the blame. In reality though they only do about 55% of the damage. Reflective Blinds films stop more than 99% of the U.V. rays. This together with about 93% to 97% of the visible rays, and at least 80% to 90% of the infra red rays from the sun will increase the life of furniture and furnishings by a factor of 8 to 10. This means that if carpets take four years to fade to a certain point with no protection at all, that they will take between 32 and 40 years to degrade to the same degree when protected by Reflective Blinds.

Winter Warmth: Reflective blinds will reduce winter heat loss by up to 45%, depending on how they are installed.

Day time Privacy: Reflective Blinds work like a one way mirror during the day giving excellent day time privacy. There is a security element to this in that you cannot see in through a Reflective Blind during the day, or at night when the lights are turned off.

Washable: Although some users never need to clean their Reflective Blinds, they can be cleaned. With care even paint spatters can be removed without harm.

Reflective blinds are tough, durable and sun rot resistant.

The best blinds to keep out are those which are made of a multi-laminate sheet of polyester with transparent film of aluminium between the two laminations. The aluminium provides the reflective medium while the polyester provides the strength and pliability which reduces heat gain into the room by up to 83%.

Blinds act as a great barrier between the heat coming in through the window to the internal room. Depending on the material you choose and how it is installed, you can reject as much as 83% of heat entering a room by installing roller blinds which use a revolutionary see through film with excellent heat, glare and UV rejection properties.

Blinds act as a great heat loss barrier. Depending on the material you choose and how it is installed, you can reject as much as 45% of heat leaving a room in winter by installing roller blinds which use a revolutionary see through film with excellent heat, glare and UV rejection properties.

Yes, a roller blind creates a still air barrier to reduce heat transfer from the hot side to the cold side. A still air space can be a very effective method of insulation. A Reflective Blind creates a still air space between your room and the glass, this still air space, although not as effective as some bulk insulations, such as one of the foams, makes a significant contribution to the insulation of your room from the heat outside. Additional still air barriers created by your conventional blinds and curtains can add to this advantage.

• You can crease them.
• You can crush them.
• You can scratch them.
• All of which you can do to most other blinds, but you can’t tear them.
• While they are protecting you and your furniture, they are sacrificing themselves to the ravages of the sun.
• You get no night time privacy when the lights are on.
• They are not awnings, and cannot be installed successfully in outside applications.

Any sun affected window, but they are a blind you have when you would really prefer not to have a blind at all, so they work best in a window with a view.

Some of the best views are lost when the sun shines. Whether the outlook is onto water, a tree studded reserve or just the world outside, it is a shame to lose it every time the sun shines.

Reflective Blinds are truly transparent. 
They:

1. reduce the heat of the sun: It’s like sitting in the shade.
2. protect furniture and furnishings from fade.
3. reduce glare.
4. give day time privacy.

All while you retain your view.

For a antiglare solar Reflective Blind to reach its full potential it must be placed where it can take, and reflect the full force of the sun. Therefore Reflective Blinds are always installed in front of all other blinds and curtains. It is always the closest window furnishing to the glass.

Reflective Blinds are also ideal in high wind areas, locations where you cannot safely have an awning. Here the Reflective Blind, safely fitted behind glass can go on working regardless of the strength of the wind. They have been used successfully in homes, offices and factories. You will see them protecting the cashier and the chocolates in service stations. They are used by air traffic controllers in airports around the world and on the bridges of ships.

During winter it is often darker and having your blinds down to keep in the warmth isn’t ideal when you lose your view to outside. It can affect your wellbeing if you are spending long periods of time in darkness and artificial light. By using a roller blind with Reflective Blind film you can reduce heat loss from a room by upto 45%.

The thing that makes Reflective Blinds unique, is that they are made from laminated polyester film.

The film has a thin coating of aluminium sandwiched between the laminations. The polyester gives the film its colour, strength and pliability; while the aluminium, which is so thin you can see through it, provides the medium for reflecting the sun’s rays.

To describe polyester, you can use some trade names such as Mylar, which is manufactured by Dupont or Melinex, which is manufactured by ICI, but you cannot actually claim that a particular piece of our blind film is either because we have no knowledge which specific raw film supplier’s product is being used at any one point of time by the film manufacturer.

The performance claims made for Reflective Blinds has been done under the Windows Energy Rating Scheme using the same computer modelling software as used by the US National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC). This software has been thoroughly validated against laboratory tests in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom — in all climates, hot and cold. WERS is truly international in its derivation and draws on over 100 person-years of R&D in 15 countries over the last decade.

Reflective Blinds / Energy Shield is a fully licensed participant in the Window Energy Rating Scheme (Australasian Window Council, 2002). Custom energy ratings for Reflective Blinds products, in their most basic form, denote the performance improvement provided by each product when used in conjunction with a typical, 3 mm clear glass, aluminium framed window. Energy ratings are based on optical measurements and computer modelling by means of software from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA, and the WERS Program (AWC 2002).

Energy Rating for windows is here to stay. Certified energy performance is an essential part of the information that professional companies provide to their customers. The Australian Federal Government’s Australian Greenhouse Office is helping to underwrite WERS as part of its commitment to improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse emissions from the built environment.

The market profile and returns from high-performance windows are increasing rapidly. Gone are the days when windows were just a commodity to be sold on price alone.

WERS will be referenced by AS 2047 and the Building Code of Australia.

The Australasian Window Council is the peak body for the window product and component industry in Australia and New Zealand. The AWA is a major player in that body. WERS is independent of any one manufacturer and acts as a fair, rigorous and credible system for testing performance claims.

It will depend on the model.

Deluxe Reflective Roller Blinds are installed at the top of the window reveal. They are operated by a continuous loop chain at one side, and roll down the window inside the glass. Each blind sits in two brackets, each of which is held in place by two screws. they can be face or ceiling fixed.

Reflective Cord Actuated Blinds are installed, usually under glass roofs or sloping windows. They are on a spring loaded roller and are drawn up or down the slope of the glass by a single cord which is fitted to the middle of the lath. The cord then runs through a series of pulleys to a cleat. The cleat holds the blind in tension against the spring loaded roller.

Reflective blinds for Skylights are very similar to the cord actuated model. The blind is Inside a cassette which is fastened to the internal edge of the skylight close to the glass.

Reflective Blinds are usually held in place with screws, but we do use a range of sophisticated fastenings for more unusual installations.

Marine, Boat & Ship Blinds are installed above the window and are operated by one of two cord systems we offer or by simple D Handles held in place by a hook.

Just like the rest of the blind industry it depends on the time of the year. In winter time the delivery lead time is usually a little over a week. In summer time, especially around Christmas, it can extend to three weeks. Please give us a call to discuss your time frame.